Great Books II - ALSC Conference, Oct. 9-11, 2009

The 2009 Conference in Denver will continue the tradition established in 2004 of offering seminars designed to increase participation of the membership in the conference and giving them another excellent reason to attend. Modeled on what has worked successfully for such organizations as the Shakespeare Association of America and the Modernist Studies Association, these four seminars will each be led by a distinguished member of the Association.

Each seminar will have fifteen (15) guaranteed places, and each person accepted for a seminar will receive an official letter of invitation to the conference and will be listed in its program. Seminar participants will write brief position papers (2-4 pages maximum, double-spaced), and will circulate their papers to the other participants and read all the papers prior to the conference. The listing of the titles in the conference program should help participants obtain travel funding for the conference from their home colleges and universities. Senior scholars are eligible to apply for these seminars, but graduate students and junior faculty especially are encouraged to do so; we hope that senior scholars and others will spread the word and encourage their graduate students and junior colleagues to apply.

Seminar One: Great Books II Convener: TBA Brief papers, 2-4 pages long, are requested that focus on the deployment of Great Books—and particular Great Books authors—in the classroom, either in elective courses or as part of a core curriculum. What approaches might be taken to teaching such courses and what goals can be achieved? Among possible topics one might include such classic authors' focus on the universal and perennial as objects of study and writing, the role of history in studying their work, and the relation of such courses to more narrowly disciplinary courses in reading and writing, including courses with a far smaller literary component. Other topics might be the role of Great Books in the remediation of cultural illiteracy and critical thinking skills among minority and underserved students, and the role of Great Books in faculty professional development. Abstracts, proposals, or the papers themselves should be sent to alsc@bu.edu.

Submission form and deadline. Submissions must reach the convener of the session by July 3. They should be sent to both (1) the convener of the panel or seminar and (2) the Association's office at alsc@bu.edu. On your e-mail's "subject" line, please give your name and other information in the following form: "ALSC 2009, [Name of Session] abstract by [First Name, Last Name]." For details regarding submission length, please refer to the individual instructions for each session.

If you do not send copies to both the convener and the ALSC, we cannot guarantee that you will receive an e-mail notice acknowledging receipt of your proposal.